Dog Supplies: Dog & Puppy Accessories & Products | Petco

Adopt a new dog, cat, puppy, kitten, horse, parrot, rabbit, reptile, or other pet at your local SPCA for Monterey County in Salinas. Adopt love at the SPCA!

Your older dog isn’t likely to be keen on the idea of sharing his space with a new puppy. Introduce the two dogs in a neutral area such as an open field or empty parking lot. Otherwise, bring your resident dog outside to meet the new addition. Whatever his reaction, stay calm as you focus your affections on your resident pet. Follow these tips:

- Get ready. Make sure your dog(s) are current on all their vaccinations, including bordatella (kennel cough) especially if the puppy is coming from a shelter or rescue kennel, or has been exposed to other dogs within the last 2 weeks that were from or in a kennel. Get your vet’s recommendations whether total separation (quarantine) is needed and for how long. There are many potentially fatal diseases that puppies can be ‘incubating’ that will not show up for up to two weeks. Altered pets are less likely to be territorial, so getting your current dogs fixed at least 1 month before introducing a puppy is recommended. Also treat your current dogs for fleas and other parasite prevention as recommended by your vet.

We often get calls or e-mails from people looking to add a purebred dog to their households. More often than not, the caller or writer specifies that he wants just a pet, so he doesnt want to pay a lot of money for a puppy. We know that the most reliable source of a puppy is a responsible breed enthusiast who does health checks, breeds for good temperament, and backs up his puppies with a contract and a health guarantee, so we decided to begin our breeders forum with two questions: (Answers in this column are in alphabetical order; future columns will rotate answers.)Where to buy a dogSome people want to get a purebred puppy and think their only option is to go to a local pet store or dog breeder near them. That's certainly one way to get a purebred dog or puppy, but many people don’t realize that sometimes purebred dogs and puppies end up in shelters and need homes as well.Any dog of any age can end up in a shelter. Someone may breed their purebred dog to sell the puppies but then not find homes for all the purebred puppies. Or someone might buy a puppy from a breeder or a pet store, and then be unable to keep the puppy. Perhaps they cannot afford the care, or there is a crisis in the family that requires them to find a new home for their dog. They may not be able to return the puppy to the dog breeder or pet store, and so the purebred puppy might be taken to a shelter to find a new home.Adopting vs BuyingWhen people want to buy a dog or buy a puppy from a breeder or pet store, more and more people are first searching their local animal shelter or purebred rescue group to see if there might be a purebred dog or puppy they might like to adopt. In most cases this is a cheaper way to buy a puppy. Adopting a pet from a shelter or rescue also saves a life, so if you are looking to find a breeder or visit a pet store, please consider as an option adopting a dog from your animal shelter or rescue organization near you.Show dog breeders cant afford to have anything other than a healthy, reputable breeding program. Most of their puppies are sold through word of mouth from satisfied customers, groomers, veterinarians and other dog people. Just as certain as the pet puppy buyer wants a healthy, happy, long-lived dog, the show dog breeder wants a healthy, happy, long-lived home for every puppy. Pet homes are every bit, if not more, important than show homes to the show dog breeder. How I wish every pet puppy buyer understood that! Any dog of any age can end up in a shelter. Someone may breed their purebred dog to sell the puppies but then not find homes for all the purebred puppies. Or someone might buy a puppy from a breeder or a pet store, and then be unable to keep the puppy. Perhaps they cannot afford the care, or there is a crisis in the family that requires them to find a new home for their dog. They may not be able to return the puppy to the dog breeder or pet store, and so the purebred puppy might be taken to a shelter to find a new home.